Mill-won-aires

Well, we are nowhere near getting our first paycheck (Sept. 25th in case you were wondering), but we exchanged some $ into Korean won when we first got to Korea. As of today, $1 is roughly 1,250 Korean won. So yeah, we are total millionaires here…or as I like to call it millwonaires.

We will eventually need to adjust our idea of “cheap” and “expensive” to be relative to Korea. Right now, everything is cheap because it’s relative to the U.S. For example in US dollars:

Five minute taxi ride for three passengers: $1.75

New hair straightener…and a fairly nice one: $11.20

Big pitcher of fruit-flavored soju: $5.60

Yummy ice cream bar: $1.20

Oh, and cash (in won) is king here. Some stores accept credit/debit cards, but cash is the way to go. I am told that many stores/markets/vendors will give discounts for cash. Here we are holding our millwons!